


On the Wall...

by JopGordon



Category: Coronation Street, kate and rana
Genre: Affairs, Awkward Romance, Canon Lesbian Character, Daydreaming, F/F, Fantasizing, Girls Kissing, Guilt, Sexual Tension, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 22:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13327278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JopGordon/pseuds/JopGordon
Summary: Where we fill in the gaps left by Corrie writers .





	On the Wall...

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I threw together when thinking about what may have gone on when we were left hanging after pivotal (Ka)te and Ra(na) scenes. 
> 
> So much is left unsaid and unexplained in the Kana relationship, so each chapter will aim to shed some light on those missing pieces and details. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Italics are either a memory/line from the show or a thought had by one of the characters.

_“...You reckon she’s a bigot? What just cause she’s a muslim?”_  
_“Did I say that?”_  
_“Didn’t have to! Look I think you should go and sober up.”_  
_“I’m not drunk.”_  
_“Yeah, well, you’re talking rubbish so…”_

* * *

 

With the closing of the front door, Rana’s shoulders sink as the tension in her muscles give way, but the anxiety churning in her stomach doesn’t ease in the slightest. For a moment, she can’t quite fathom all that she’s just heard, but then as the quiet of the house looms around her ears it all becomes painfully clear. She’s probably just lost her friends. She turns on the landing moving slowly towards hers and Zeedan’s bedroom, her head awash with countless thoughts and worries. In the matter of only a few hours, the mood between her and Kate and Alya went from perfectly fine to terrible—while the mood between her and Imogen was never actually fine and (for some reason she couldn’t figure out) always pretty terrible. For practical reasons, Rana knew that Imogen was a nice enough girl; she had to be for Kate and Alya to get on with her, but something about her just couldn’t be reconciled with Rana. As her hips dropped her onto the edge of her bed she tried to make sense of it all. Why did she let things kick off like that out the back at the Rovers? Why didn’t Kate or Alya understand what she was trying to say? Did she actually say something so wrong and insensitive? She honestly didn’t get the reason for Kate and Imogen to be so full on with kissing and touching each other. After all, the triple date was cancelled, and they all were at the Rovers for Eva’s hen do, not for a barrage of affection and giggling shared between Kate and Imogen. If that’s what Kate was after, she should have gone into town with Imogen and left Rana and Alya at the hen do. Better still, Kate should have understood what being so intimate with Imogen then and there would have felt like for Rana and Alya.

  
_Was only a few weeks ago she was nagging about Luke and Alya to me in the cafe―now this. Now I’m an ignorant homophobic cow in her eyes and not her mate._

  
Rana lets out a sigh and to her surprise a tear from her right eye slips down her cheek. She wipes it away just as another falls from the left, and with another breath released her lips take to trembling and the bulk of her thoughts and feelings begin tumbling together in her mind. A sudden rush of internal turmoil. How could Kate think so low of her, after all they’d been through and all the good times they’d shared? What Rana felt could only be her instinct provided the answer straight away: Imogen. Or rather, Kate’s fixation on Imogen. Kate had only known the girl a short while, yet here she was putting on heroics and defending her new girlfriend because of a stupid misunderstanding. It’s one thing to fancy someone, but to kick off with friends you know and have trust with goes deeper. Talk about a one-eighty. And for what?

  
_What’s so special about Imogen anyway?_

  
It was never Rana’s concern to wonder why her friends fancied anyone they happened to, but this particular pairing just continually confounded her. Maybe if Imogen was a bloke she could understand? Or, maybe if it’d been a few months into their relationship then all of this infatuation and need to be so touchy-feely would make more sense? Perhaps if Imogen wasn’t so...so...annoying and full of herself and clingy and always looking for a laugh and always up for it...and...and just _there_ all the time.

  
_You’d think she didn’t have anyone else to hang around with except Kate._

  
First, Imogen crashed Rana and Kate’s night out; sure the plan was to get Kate back out there so that she didn’t feel so bad playing third wheel to her flatmate’s, but the overly eager blonde clearly wasn’t what the nurse ordered. Then, Imogen made quick work to get herself cozy with Alya and Luke, so much so that she’d managed to get some weird double date out of it with all of them ending up at a club in town. And now today, after saying she’d double booked herself and couldn’t make the triple date (which Rana was fully prepared to grin and bear for the sake of being a good friend), Imogen found some way to break her previous plans just to show up to a hen do of someone she didn’t even know. True Rana and Eva are hardly mates, but the Rovers is Rana’s local, and Kate was Rana’s friend well before Imogen ever slinked her way into that booth that night at the Bistro.

  
The tears are still coming and Rana finds herself frustrated and sad and incredibly miffed with everything. Why was all of this happening to her—falling out with friends and Zee getting caught in the middle having to defend her? Alya calling her out on stuff at the Rovers...Kate accusing her of having a problem...both of them stood at the bottom of the stairs seeming like they didn’t know her as well as she thought they should while Zeedan had no clue as to why any of it was happening. Rana wanted so badly for it all to be down to a misunderstanding, to be crossed wires or lack of clarity or anything that could be sorted out, but the source of it all kept coming back to the new girl on the scene.

  
_Everything would be fine if she’d never come around to the pub._

  
In the bathroom, Rana splashes some cold water on her face and then dabs her skin dry with a towel. Today would have been just fine, maybe even amazing, if Imogen had just stayed away. And going forward, Rana imagines, things would be better if that was always the case. But after today, she knows that won’t happen. Kate is smitten, Imogen’s like the cat that’s got the cream, Alya’s taking friendship advice from politicians in Sweden, and somehow Rana’s totally anti-gay in all their eyes.

  
_Life should come with a rewind button._

  
In the mirror, Rana manages to crack a small grin for her own sake. If she could restart the day she’d make plans with Zee. Make excuses with Kate and Alya and force herself on her husband (not that he’d ever see it that way) and maybe go into town for dinner. Maybe go to the cinema, or just take a walk in the autumn sun—anything to avoid being near the Rovers and this massive row. Better still, she’d press that rewind button until she was back at the Bistro when she first clapped eyes on Imogen chatting up Kate with utter abandon.

_“Why don’t you sling your hook nursey and leave us alone?”_

  
A contentious cow right from the start. If Rana could go back she’d use more than just her words to get her point across. She’d never been much of a fighter, but thinking back on that night makes Rana grind her teeth and turn to scowling at her own reflection. Suddenly, somewhere inside of her, a tinge of joy sparks up as she imagines giving Imogen a proper kick on the bum sending the blonde into full body contact with the cobbles outside the Bistro. And after this she’d rejoin Kate in the booth, they’d finish their drinks and go out dancing like they planned or on to a cool bar in town for more drinks and fun. Or even just walking down the pavement in town, window shopping as the sun went down, eyeing up outfits that could contend with the horrible bridesmaid dress Kate had infamously been photographed in. That would have been a laugh. Just the two of them as was the intention to start with. A friends’ night out as promised because that’s what Kate really needed. Not a chat up from some snarky so-and-so with nothing better to do than crash a good time and mislead her friend. Those types of girls are always more than a handful, never knowing when enough’s enough. Always banging on about themselves as if everything they’ve ever done or seen or ever thought of is the most amazing thing ever.

 _“I could never be a nurse me...Mainly pick up strangers in a bar. Stick to what you’re good at.”_ A proper narcissist.

  
Rana’s back at that moment in the Bistro once more and rethinks her previous approach. With people like that, those who are so stuck on themselves, they never give up. After dusting herself off from falling to the ground, Rana imagines Imogen charging back into the Bistro and really laying it on then. Making out like she was the victim when really she was the one messing everything up. And then Kate would probably kick off at Rana, shouting her down right there in the dining room in front of everyone. What a mess. No...given the chance to do it all again, Rana would have to do something different. Instead of telling that pompous cow that she was Kate’s friend after she was told to sling her hook, Rana would simply change the word. Girlfriend. In her mind, Rana’s eyes widen and catch a twinkle from the Bistro lights as she can see the smugness melting off of Imogen’s face.

  
_Find a cute girl alone in a booth and she must be free game, eh?_

  
The idea of besting Imogen, however, is short lived as Rana can see in her mind’s eye how quickly smugness is replaced with suspicion. The cogs get to turning quickly behind the blonde woman’s eyes and a curl of her lips gives way to some off hand comment meant to really turn the tables on the dark haired woman.

  
_“I’m just supposed to believe you? Cut the act nursey, I can see right through you.”_

  
And at that, Rana would have really turned it up. With ease and a hint of delight she would have moved over to the other side of Kate, placing the inebriated brunette right in the middle of Imogen and herself. And without hesitation she would have wrapped her arm around Kate’s shoulders and reaffirmed her claim: you heard... _girlfriend_. But quickly Rana can see that an inflated sense of self takes more sharps and stones thrown at it before it ever fully collapses; and again without even thinking, she can see herself turning Kate’s face to meet her own and placing a firm and definitive kiss on her lips. Upon their lips parting, the unwelcomed barfly would be done for; you can’t argue with what you see. And amid Kate’s slowed realization of what just happened Rana would have reveled at seeing the back of Imogen for the first and last time. And that’s it. That’s all that would have been needed to avoid ever having to deal with Imogen being sewn at the hip with Kate. Rana could almost kick herself for not thinking to do it then.

  
And with that, Rana is back at that moment sitting with Kate, just the two of them, having just saved the day with just a small selfless act. Rana reaches across the table for her drink as Kate stares at her slightly shocked.

  
“What was that?”

  
“What do you mean, babe? She was really irritating, don’t you think; and definitely not the one for you. You ought to be thanking me really.”

  
Kate doesn’t wait a beat, “The kiss, Rana. Why’d you kiss me?”

  
The beat comes now.

  
Rana’s mouth goes slightly agape and she’s stuck. Her eyes and face completely dry, and her reflection in the bathroom mirror tells her that she’s feeling a tad baffled at herself. Where’d all of that come from?—of all the ways to help a friend in need of a come on swerve kissing them has never crossed her mind before. Nor had the arm around the shoulders bit. Or claiming to be their girlfriend. Getting a bit feisty or calling the interloper all sorts would be her go to move; and if that didn’t do it then moving on to another bar or spilling drinks on someone’s idea of dynamite fashion would easily do the trick. But in her mind now, none of that was an option. Imogen needed a strong telling off, and Kate wouldn’t be pleased with a dust up full of shouting and drinks splashing everywhere. And that’s what was most important. Making things easier for Kate—it was all Rana wanted that night. To make things easier and nicer for her friend; to put a smile on her face and hear her laugh with ease—for both of them to enjoy each other’s company. Rana and Kate always managed to have a good time when they were together, both of them looking out for one another, never acting selfishly or without care for the other. Clearly they were friends. Really good friends who really liked each other. If either of them needed something, the other would act and not allow for second thoughts or doubts. That’s what mates do, right?

  
From some deep cavern in Rana’s brain the idea of kissing Alya for the sake of dodging some bloke’s come on flashes and the visual strikes her as completely strange. What would be the point of that? Alya’s not gay, plus a man seeing two women kissing probably wouldn’t get the response she’d be hoping for. And the circumstances were entirely different with Kate; clearly Imogen wasn’t the type to take no for an answer. Rana tried being nice about it that night, to use her words and nothing more, but look how that ended up. Through the magic of the rewind button and Rana’s clever endeavors Imogen would see and not just hear the message. _Back. Off._

  
But still the idea of it all is so foreign and odd that Rana finds herself chuckling the thought away and biting her lip as the flips the lights off in the bathroom. Kissing a friend to get rid of someone who’s trying for a lame pick up line—that stuff only works in the movies, and it’s clear that Imogen will be sticking around for the foreseeable. Kate’s keen on her and there’s nothing Rana can do about it.

  
Rana makes her way back to the upper landing, the spot where she was not more than ten minutes ago as both Alya and Kate were downstairs telling Zee about the fallout going on between them all. And she’d heard Imogen’s voice as well. Of course she’d have come into the house—was probably standing right by Kate’s side ready to stick the boot in. A subtle but purposeful sign. Her and Kate were together now, and Rana, hidden away somewhere upstairs, was on the outs. Those were the facts and Rana would just have to live with it now—no amount of dreaming or reconfiguring the past in her head could change that. She stops at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall again as the knots in her mind continue to unfurl.

  
“Rana?” the sound of her own name cast in Kate’s hushed voice rushes Rana’s mind back to the Bistro. “Why’d you do it? Why did you kiss me?”

  
Kate shifts her body just so, the slight frame of her torso turned directly to Rana. Catching the seriousness of the posture, Rana places her drink back on the table as Kate’s eyes move over Rana’s face searching for an answer in her expression. Something about the look in those eyes, Kate’s lovely brown eyes, makes Rana’s lips press together as she considers the inquiry. Enveloped in an abrupt bought of shyness, Rana casts her eyes away, as if the look on Kate’s face might turn her into mush or strike her mute for life. Why did she do it? Was it really down to Imogen?

  
A pause, a slight furrow of her brow, and a deep inhale stokes the answer out of Rana.

  
“I did it for you. And I would again...if you wanted.”

  
“What?” one of Kate’s favorite questions.

  
It’s Kate turn to be bewildered, and Rana’s turn to be assured. Rana turns her body to rest parallel to Kate’s. She’s back to letting Kate’s eyes explore the curves and faint lines of her face; the mix of confusion and curiosity inspires the slightest upturn at the corner of Rana’s mouth. Rana brings her hand up to Kate’s jaw and moves her fingertips down slightly across her neck.

  
“I just want us to have a good time together. For you to have a good time...with me. Just me.”

  
The implication of the words snap Rana back to reality. Just a good time, she rephrases it in her head, just the two of them. That was the aim all along, just for her and Kate to have a night out together. Instead it turned into Kate going gaga over Imogen and flitting off with the newfound pal back to Kate’s flat most likely. That’s how fast best intentions can get turned around. And by now, Kate and Imogen were more than pals, they were properly seeing each other. And despite trying to be a good friend about it, the fact of the matter made Rana feel like an endless source of knives were slicing into her stomach, lungs, and heart. In such a short time she’d gone from having made a true friend in Kate to what?...losing her over some girl who carries a tacky silver bag on her shoulder and making the most unfunny jokes anyone had ever heard? How? Why? Why was Kate so interested in Imogen; why were her ridiculous jokes and need to be everywhere all the time so appealing to Kate? Why would Kate fancy Imogen at all and not...someone else?

  
Rana’s head feels ready to implode with all of this wondering and thinking, all this mad reimagining of the past. What’s over is done with, and there is only the here and now that matters. As quietly as she can, Rana takes in a steady breath and makes her way down the stairs. On the sofa, Zeedan sits in front of the telly, not watching, not even listening. Even from behind she can tell he’s smoldering; always her biggest supporter, always there when she needs him. Rana rounds the sofa and curls up next to her husband; she tells him she’s heard all that was said just a bit ago and he consoles her straight away, but she feels some strange need to confess to him.

  
_“...seeing her and Imogen kissing, I just felt there was no need for it.”_

  
Maybe Kate was right after all? She tells Zeedan that maybe her upbringing has had more of an impact on her than she ever realized. Again, Zeedan reassures his wife; she’s not homophobic, it’s just down to being around your friends when they fancy someone.

  
_“...It’s always weird seeing your mates going for it no matter what they’re into. Alright? Come here.”_

  
Zeedan’s encouraging words have inspired a crescent of tears to form in Rana’s eyes as she settles in close to him again. Even though it’s the here and now that matters, Rana can’t stand to deal with it, to face it. Here and now she is sat next to the man who is the love of her life, the greatest partner any woman could ever ask for, but some time ago, even if only in her reconfiguration of the past, a kiss between two friends could have taken away all the sadness resting in her chest and the doubts in her mind.

 

 


End file.
